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Jonathan Cutrell

Developer Tea exists to help driven developers connect to their ultimate purpose and excel at their work so that they can positively impact the people they influence.

With over 17 million downloads to date, Developer Tea is a short podcast hosted by Jonathan Cutrell, engineering leader with over 15 years of industry experience. We hope you'll take the topics from this podcast and continue the conversation, either online or in person with your peers. Email: developertea@gmail.com

Developer Tea

Are you operating in the world, or are you working on a problem? This shift in agency can make all the difference in your career.
🙏 Today's Episode is Brought To you by: Wix Studio
Devs, if you think website builders mean limited control—think again.
With Wix Studio’s developer-first ecosystem you can spend less time on tedious tasks and
more on the functionalities that matters most:
● Develop online in a VS Code-based IDE or locally via GitHub.
● Extend and replace a suite of powerful business solutions
● And ship faster with Wix Studio’s AI code assistant
All of that, wrapped up in auto-maintained infrastructure for total peace of mind.
Work in a developer-first ecosystem. Go to wixstudio.com
📮 Ask a Question
If you enjoyed this episode and would like me to discuss a question that you have on the show, drop it over at: developertea.com.
📮 Join the Discord
If you want to be a part of a supportive community of engineers (non-engineers welcome!) working to improve their lives and careers, join us on the Developer Tea Discord community by visiting https://developertea.com/discord today!
🧡 Leave a Review
If you're enjoying the show and want to support the content head over to iTunes and leave a review! It helps other developers discover the show and keep us focused on what matters to you.

Agency - How The On Over In Model Can Help You Grow Your Career

How can you create better scientific wild a** guesses when the work is not well defined? We discuss a few strategies in this episode. We also talk a bit about what an estimate is in the first place, and how it differs from a commitment / deadline.
🙏 Today's Episode is Brought To you by: Wix Studio
Devs, if you think website builders mean limited control—think again.
With Wix Studio’s developer-first ecosystem you can spend less time on tedious tasks and
more on the functionalities that matters most:
● Develop online in a VS Code-based IDE or locally via GitHub.
● Extend and replace a suite of powerful business solutions
● And ship faster with Wix Studio’s AI code assistant
All of that, wrapped up in auto-maintained infrastructure for total peace of mind.
Work in a developer-first ecosystem. Go to wixstudio.com
📮 Ask a Question
If you enjoyed this episode and would like me to discuss a question that you have on the show, drop it over at: developertea.com.
📮 Join the Discord
If you want to be a part of a supportive community of engineers (non-engineers welcome!) working to improve their lives and careers, join us on the Developer Tea Discord community by visiting https://developertea.com/discord today!
🧡 Leave a Review
If you're enjoying the show and want to support the content head over to iTunes and leave a review! It helps other developers discover the show and keep us focused on what matters to you.

Better Low-Information Estimates - Putting the "Scientific" in SWAG

Today, we celebrate 10 years of Developer Tea. I wouldn't be doing this podcast without you listening. Especially if you have been listening for many years, thank you!
📮 Ask a Question
If you enjoyed this episode and would like me to discuss a question that you have on the show, drop it over at: developertea.com.
📮 Join the Discord
If you want to be a part of a supportive community of engineers (non-engineers welcome!) working to improve their lives and careers, join us on the Developer Tea Discord community by visiting https://developertea.com/discord today!
🧡 Leave a Review
If you're enjoying the show and want to support the content head over to iTunes and leave a review! It helps other developers discover the show and keep us focused on what matters to you.

Ten Years of Developer Tea

In today's episode, we're focusing on taking your resolutions and making them matter. I will give you two challenges in this episode to improve the quality and potential of success for your resolutions.
🙏 Today's Episode is Brought To you by: Wix Studio
Devs, if you think website builders mean limited control—think again.
With Wix Studio’s developer-first ecosystem you can spend less time on tedious tasks and
more on the functionalities that matters most:
● Develop online in a VS Code-based IDE or locally via GitHub.
● Extend and replace a suite of powerful business solutions
● And ship faster with Wix Studio’s AI code assistant
All of that, wrapped up in auto-maintained infrastructure for total peace of mind.
Work in a developer-first ecosystem. Go to wixstudio.com
📮 Ask a Question
If you enjoyed this episode and would like me to discuss a question that you have on the show, drop it over at: developertea.com.
📮 Join the Discord
If you want to be a part of a supportive community of engineers (non-engineers welcome!) working to improve their lives and careers, join us on the Developer Tea Discord community by visiting https://developertea.com/discord today!
🧡 Leave a Review
If you're enjoying the show and want to support the content head over to iTunes and leave a review! It helps other developers discover the show and keep us focused on what matters to you.

Upgrade Your Resolutions

Use "What" to get more specific. Align actions with intentions for better time management.
• Stop wasting time on autopilot. Discover the power of the Five Whats and start being intentional with your time.
• Tired of vague labels? Ask yourself, "What am I actually doing?" to gain clarity over your activities.
• Learn how to move beyond "focus time" and define the specific actions you're taking.
• See how your actions align with your goals (or don't!). Use this to refine your schedule and achieve your objectives.
• These concepts can flex to apply to every aspect of your life
🙏 Today's Episode is Brought To you by: Wix Studio
Devs, if you think website builders mean limited control—think again.
With Wix Studio’s developer-first ecosystem you can spend less time on tedious tasks and
more on the functionalities that matters most:
● Develop online in a VS Code-based IDE or locally via GitHub.
● Extend and replace a suite of powerful business solutions
● And ship faster with Wix Studio’s AI code assistant
All of that, wrapped up in auto-maintained infrastructure for total peace of mind.
Work in a developer-first ecosystem. Go to wixstudio.com
📮 Ask a Question
If you enjoyed this episode and would like me to discuss a question that you have on the show, drop it over at: developertea.com.
📮 Join the Discord
If you want to be a part of a supportive community of engineers (non-engineers welcome!) working to improve their lives and careers, join us on the Developer Tea Discord community by visiting https://developertea.com/discord today!
🧡 Leave a Review
If you're enjoying the show and want to support the content head over to iTunes and leave a review! It helps other developers discover the show and keep us focused on what matters to you.

Match your Action to Intention - Pairing Five Whats with Five Whys

Time-crunched and data-scarce? Learn how the RPD model can leverage expertise and intuition to speed up decision-making, and how the 'Rubicon' moment can make your team more action-oriented.
Stop endless planning and start doing: Learn how understanding action phases can help your team move faster from discussion to delivery.
• Is your team stuck in debate? Discover the "Rubicon" moment and how crossing it can boost productivity.
• Learn to recognise when deliberation is costing you more than it's worth, and how to commit to a plan, even with limited information.
• Is your team over-analysing? See how intuition and expertise can drive faster, "good-enough" decisions using the Recognition-Primed Decision (RPD) model.
• Learn to make quick decisions in high-pressure situations using experience, even without perfect data.
• Trust your team's expertise to move from talk to action sooner and more effectively.
• Want to improve your team's speed and decision-making? Tune in to find out how to get moving!
🙏 Today's Episode is Brought To you by: Wix Studio
Devs, if you think website builders mean limited control—think again.
With Wix Studio’s developer-first ecosystem you can spend less time on tedious tasks and
more on the functionalities that matters most:
● Develop online in a VS Code-based IDE or locally via GitHub.
● Extend and replace a suite of powerful business solutions
● And ship faster with Wix Studio’s AI code assistant
All of that, wrapped up in auto-maintained infrastructure for total peace of mind.
Work in a developer-first ecosystem. Go to wixstudio.com
📮 Ask a Question
If you enjoyed this episode and would like me to discuss a question that you have on the show, drop it over at: developertea.com.
📮 Join the Discord
If you want to be a part of a supportive community of engineers (non-engineers welcome!) working to improve their lives and careers, join us on the Developer Tea Discord community by visiting https://developertea.com/discord today!
🧡 Leave a Review
If you're enjoying the show and want to support the content head over to iTunes and leave a review! It helps other developers discover the show and keep us focused on what matters to you.

Action Orientation and Making Faster Decisions

In this episode, we discuss how invisible inertia can cause us to misinterpret our reality in work scenarios.
• Discover why common misconceptions about behaviour are so difficult to spot.
• Explore why your "unique" situation might be a common trap, a "uniqueness bias".
• Learn how exceptional states can become the norm and impact your life.
• Uncover how people's values shape company culture, and how to evaluate this.
• Why might expecting a culture to change in the direction you want be unrealistic?
• Learn why you should evaluate situations for what they are right now, instead of expecting future change.
🙏 Today's Episode is Brought To you by: Wix Studio
Devs, if you think website builders mean limited control—think again.
With Wix Studio’s developer-first ecosystem you can spend less time on tedious tasks and
more on the functionalities that matters most:
● Develop online in a VS Code-based IDE or locally via GitHub.
● Extend and replace a suite of powerful business solutions
● And ship faster with Wix Studio’s AI code assistant
All of that, wrapped up in auto-maintained infrastructure for total peace of mind.
Work in a developer-first ecosystem. Go to wixstudio.com
📮 Ask a Question
If you enjoyed this episode and would like me to discuss a question that you have on the show, drop it over at: developertea.com.
📮 Join the Discord
If you want to be a part of a supportive community of engineers (non-engineers welcome!) working to improve their lives and careers, join us on the Developer Tea Discord community by visiting https://developertea.com/discord today!
🧡 Leave a Review
If you're enjoying the show and want to support the content head over to iTunes and leave a review! It helps other developers discover the show and keep us focused on what matters to you.

Misconceptions about Exceptions and Cultural Shifts - Invisible Inertia

This episode includes practical techniques to prepare for the unexpected by identifying vulnerabilities and building resilience, using the "curse question" and the "assumption audit" to help you turn potential problems into strategic advantages.

• Uncover how to use a "curse question" to expose vulnerabilities you didn't know you had, by imagining realistic negative scenarios and what could go wrong.
• Learn how to move beyond resilience to antifragility, turning unexpected events into opportunities for growth and strategic advantage, by making them benefitial rather than harmful.
• Discover why your medium-confidence assumptions might be the most dangerous and how an "assumption audit" can help you rate them and their potential impact if they are wrong, to help you better understand your weaknesses.
• Explore why preparing for a range of possibilities, including black swan events, is more effective than trying to predict specific outcomes, and how to spot opportunities in the unexpected.
• Learn why focusing on areas of fragility and identifying risks can be more useful than focusing on trying to avoid negative events altogether.
• Understand that counterfactuals can help you challenge your assumptions and create more robust plans.
🙏 Today's Episode is Brought To you by: Wix Studio
Devs, if you think website builders mean limited control—think again.
With Wix Studio’s developer-first ecosystem you can spend less time on tedious tasks and
more on the functionalities that matters most:
● Develop online in a VS Code-based IDE or locally via GitHub.
● Extend and replace a suite of powerful business solutions
● And ship faster with Wix Studio’s AI code assistant
All of that, wrapped up in auto-maintained infrastructure for total peace of mind.
Work in a developer-first ecosystem. Go to wixstudio.com
📮 Ask a Question
If you enjoyed this episode and would like me to discuss a question that you have on the show, drop it over at: developertea.com.
📮 Join the Discord
If you want to be a part of a supportive community of engineers (non-engineers welcome!) working to improve their lives and careers, join us on the Developer Tea Discord community by visiting https://developertea.com/discord today!
🧡 Leave a Review
If you're enjoying the show and want to support the content head over to iTunes and leave a review! It helps other developers discover the show and keep us focused on what matters to you.

How Can You Prepare for High-Impact Unknown Events?

This episode explores philosophical frameworks—ontology, teleology, and dynamism—to inform decision-making in uncertain situations, providing practical advice for applying these concepts in your professional and personal life.

 • Understand 
how ontology, teleology, and dynamism can help you navigate conversations • about future actions for teams, companies, families, or yourself. Ontology focuses on a thing's intrinsic characteristics, teleology on its purpose or outcome, and dynamism on the changing environment.
 • Learn how these philosophical frameworks address the uncertainty of the future and provide tools for making intentional decisions. The episode connects these concepts to practical advice, especially for engineering managers, demonstrating their relevance to your career.
 • Explore 
how ontology identifies a thing's characteristics in isolation • , while teleology considers its purpose or outcome. Discover how dynamism identifies changes in the environment and intent, providing a contextual understanding.
 • Consider how 
dynamism can recognize the need to change a team's role • due to external factors, like AI, which contrasts with the potentially static views of ontology and teleology.
 • Understand that 
'should' implies value in decision-making • , with choices leaning towards desirable or undesirable outcomes. The episode explores how to define the criteria for 'should' in various contexts.
 • Realise the 
importance of adapting your thinking to new realities • , which is crucial in decision-making.
🙏 Today's Episode is Brought To you by: Wix Studio
Wix Studio's developer-first ecosystem allows you to focus on crucial functionalities by reducing time spent on tedious tasks.

 • Develop online in a VS Code-based IDE or locally via GitHub.
 • Extend and replace a suite of powerful business solutions.
 • Use Wix Studio’s AI code assistant to ship faster.

Work within a developer-first ecosystem by visiting wixstudio.com.
📮 Ask a Question
If you enjoyed this episode and would like me to discuss a question that you have on the show, drop it over at: developertea.com.
📮 Join the Discord
To join a supportive community of engineers, visit the Developer Tea Discord community at https://developertea.com/discord.
🧡 Leave a Review
Support the show by leaving a review on iTunes to help other developers discover the podcast.

Philosophical Frameworks that Inform Your Decisions (Without You Even Knowing It)

This episode introduces product lifecycle governance, offering practical techniques for engineering managers to tackle challenges like backlog prioritisation and leadership misunderstandings, helping turn potential problems into strategic advantages.

 • 
Uncover how to use product lifecycle governance • to expose vulnerabilities in your product development process, by understanding where decisions are made and who makes them.
 • 
Learn how to move beyond simply managing a product to governing its lifecycle • , turning unexpected issues into opportunities for better alignment and strategic advantage.
 • 
Discover why understanding your governance model is crucial • for ensuring that everyone is working on the most important tasks, and how to iterate on it for better clarity and effectiveness.
 • 
Explore why focusing on a clear governance model • and identifying decision points can be more useful than simply executing processes without understanding the bigger picture.
 • 
Learn why surfacing tech debt • and integrating it into your backlog is essential for a healthy product lifecycle.
 • 
Understand that documenting and sharing your governance model • can lead to better collaboration and alignment within the organisation.

This episode provides language and a mental model around product lifecycle governance to help navigate challenges, especially when transitioning to a new role or company. It emphasises understanding where decisions are being made, what your power is as a manager, and how to collaborate to develop a better governance model. The goal is to ensure everyone is working on the right thing at the right time, optimising decision-making and processes.
📮 Ask a Question
If you enjoyed this episode and would like me to discuss a question that you have on the show, drop it over at: developertea.com.
📮 Join the Discord
If you want to be a part of a supportive community of engineers (non-engineers welcome!) working to improve their lives and careers, join us on the Developer Tea Discord community by visiting https://developertea.com/discord today!
🧡 Leave a Review
If you're enjoying the show and want to support the content head over to iTunes and leave a review! It helps other developers discover the show and keep us focused on what matters to you.

Manager Frameworks and Models - Product Lifecycle Governance

In today's episode, I discuss the importance of relying on obviousness when designing software and user interfaces, and when you should be utilizing surprise.

Today's episode is sponsored by DigitalOcean. Go to https://digitalocean.com to get started, and use the promo code "DeveloperTea" on the billing page after you create your account to get a $10 credit!

Creating Obvious Systems: Why Mental Models Justify Simplicity, and When to Utilize Surprise and Delight

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